Sine Cosine Potentiometers - nonlinear

Special potentiometer with sine/cosine signal

Sine/Cosine potentiometers are a special case within the range. They allow conductive plastic potentiometers to be operated over the full 360° range. This is achieved by using two wipers on the resistance track. One wiper is used for sine and one for cosine at 90° intervals.

There are two connections for positive and negative voltage (opposite) and two for earth (also opposite), which are connected to the resistance track. Two wipers pick up the signal with a 90 ° offset on the resistance track. When the shaft rotates, a continuous, periodic signal in sine and cosine form is generated at the two outputs.

The sliders always provide a signal for the 360° range and there is no dead zone as with standard conductive plastic potentiometers. The ability to combine the two signals in the processor means that a digital incremental signal can be generated by interpolation with information on the direction of rotation.